Radiation Tx Alone May Be Adequate for Stage I Anal Cancer in Elderly

HealthDay News — For older patients with stage I squamous cell carcinoma of the anus, radiation alone is associated with outcomes that do not differ significantly from those of chemoradiation, according to research published in the July issue of Diseases of the Colon & Rectum.

Michael Buckstein, MD, PhD, from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, and colleagues conducted a cohort analysis to examine whether outcomes are improved with the addition of chemotherapy to radiation alone for stage I squamous cell carcinoma of the anus. Data were included for 200 patients who received chemoradiation and 99 treated with lone radiotherapy (median age, 72 years).